C. Sappan
The Urth list — 3 messages, 2 voices, 16 Mar 1999
https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/urth/1434

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Roy C. Lackey — 16 Mar 1999, 20:32

    Apparently the Jungle Garden is not meant to represent either S. America
or Africa. One solid clue given is the name of the fallen tree Sev sees when
the door of the Jungle Garden first swings open, near the end of chapter
XIX. The sign on it reads: _Caesalpinia sappan_. The OED, under 'sapan',
states that it is indigenous to tropical Asia and the Indian Archipelago.
The roots of Caesalpinia Sappan, also called "yellow wood", are used to make
yellow dye. Sev describes the hut as: "A house set on stilts of yellow wood.
It's thatched with palm fronds.", near the end of chapter XX.

Roy

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m.driussi — 17 Mar 1999, 04:31
  follows, by subject match Roy C. Lackey

Roy,

Huh.  I thought "C. Sappan" aka brazilwood aka "bresel wood" (when it
was first imported to medieval Europe) is aka "the East Indian
redwood" because its wood is a bright red in color and yields a red
dye.  (Yes, yes--the South American country was named after the Asian
wood, not the other way around.)

FWIW I thought the hut was made of bamboo.

The wood is from East India; the autochthon is from Africa; the
missionaries are from the Western World.  But don't leave out the
animals: a smilodon (sure, maybe some Asiatic tiger/African cat); an
oreodont; a red-breasted, blue-backed parrot; and a reptile with evil
teeth and a finned back.

=mantis=

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Roy C. Lackey — 17 Mar 1999, 16:44
  follows, by subject match m.driussi

> > On Wed, 17 Mar 99 04:31:00 GMT, mantis wrote:
> > Huh.  I thought "C. Sappan" aka brazilwood aka "bresel wood" (when it
> > was first imported to medieval Europe) is aka "the East Indian
> > redwood" because its wood is a bright red in color and yields a red
> > dye.  (Yes, yes--the South American country was named after the Asian
> > wood, not the other way around.)<<

    Correct, but what I related from the OED about the root of C. Sappan is
also correct, just not relevant, apparently. What I meant to suggest is the
possibility that the location of the jungle, ambiguous in the text, might be
in Southeast Asia, where the French certainly had possessions. Robert was
schooled in Paris, after all.

> > FWIW I thought the hut was made of bamboo.<<

    I agree with you, FWIW.

Roy

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